Bennett considering lifting Massey's redshirt

[giacfsp]

A crazy thought occurred to me today while I was driving (yes, I made it home alive, but that's for another discussion.)

Look at Richuel Massey -- who does he remind you of? A little short, but amazingly thick, especially in those legs. Accelerates well, and has better flat-out speed than you'd think. He's not a track star-caliber sprinter, but he's close. Call me crazy, but he reminds me of Jamal Lewis. Yes, THAT Jamal Lewis.

Now before any of you start ranting about how I'm predicting a 295-yard performance or a future NFL star, I'm not. I'm just saying they have similar attributes. Lewis has good speed, but what makes him so effective is his ability to shrug off hits and maintain balance with those strong legs of his. Massey, from what I've seen in practice, can do the same things. Can he do them as well? Of course not. But he might make a significant contribution before people expect.

[Roach]

No laughing here. I can see the Jamal Lewis comparison. A poor man's Jamal Lewis, at least for now, but the similarities are there, in terms of speed, power and balance. Now let's see if he can play like Lewis!

[gostangs]

Massey is incredibly strong - I can't wait to see what he does. I would expect some freshman mistakes, mixed in with some real excitement. Not sure it will make a difference in this game, but could REALLY make a difference as we get into WAC schedule.

[sam]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Under the Lights:
<B> Sam,

You're showing your weaknesses for understanding the game. First, with the regard to the "backside seal" - if you bothered to look at the game you would have realized at least 3 things: (1) Sterling Harris did not block anyone on the right side at the poa (point of attack) - with no where for the running back to go this provided ample time for the back side end (over Kieshcnick) to pursue the play down the line and make multiple stops. Additionally, the same defensive end (over Kieschnick) was named Big 12 defensive player of the week primarily for his 2 consecutive QB sacks in the 4th qtr. (2) Each player is graded by their respective coach on their performance in the game. It is my understanding that Eidson & Hargis led the offensive line (grade wise) in the Baylor game. (3) You seem to correlate size with outcome. Evidently the size that matters is the amount of "heart" that a player carries into a game.

Let me suggest to you that the guys that shouldn't be playing are the guys that grade out consistently as losers. To date, I think that yoke fits squarely on the shoulders of Harris and Kieschnick. We need these guys to step up and play to their abilities. You're right to evidence my bias, but it is not due to geography - rather, it is predicated on performance. To quote Phil Bennett from his press conference last Monday, "Grant Eidson was a bright spot in the Tech game."

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

Stay with banking - you have no future in analyzing football.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Under the Lights,it is so unfair of you to refer to anyone on this team as a "loser" especially given your relationship to one of our offensive lineman and then refer to his linemates as "losers" I happen to believe that all the players play as hard as they can. And if Harris is the "loser" that you say he is tell me why we run 90% of our plays to that side and KK gains 100 yards doing so. Not bad for a "loser" Shame on you

[OldPony]

I get tired of the personal attacks on the payers on this board. These guys are giving it all they have and keep doing so. They are better than has shown so far. IF we can get our special teams playing as well, we will compete for several games. I also don't understand why anyone should not be redshirted if they have potential. We are not going very far this year so the more guys who are redshirted this year the better. Maybe we'll be better next year and the year after. Quit jumping on this year's players though. They are playing hard.

[PK]

Amen, OldPony. Amen.

[Stallion]

...the reason that we need to use freshman who can help this team win this year is because we desperately need to show improvement this year for recruiting as well as for conference affiliation. A coach preaching a Savior message probably only has about 2 years before that message almost always goes stale (see Cavan) with recruits unless the program is moving in the right direction.

[buspen]

What would it hurt to give Massey a try, can't a redshirt play one non-conference game without losing his redshirt? Also, I'm all for player loyalty but wouldn't this be the time of year to rotate in some backups just to see what they have you have, you never know who might surprise you, particularly if a starter is struggling or just simply is worn out and needs a breather.

[OldPony]

While I agree with Stallion that progress is very important to keep recruitng going and I have made that point here before, I do not like using up eligibility on players who would improve us only marginally this year. KK is a very good running back and has shown the ability to carry it 35 times a game. I believe that Bennett can get one more year before he loses credibility IF he shows that he is building a stable of athletes. Hopefully a strong redshirt group would show that.

[GrapevineMustang]

My concern is that Massey doesn't suffer the same fate John Hampton suffered as a freshman, when he played just enough plays to lose his redshirt without getting the benefit of a full season. He basically started his playing career in his sophomore year.

If we're going to lift Massey's redshirt, we have to use him!

[JasonB]

The only reason I would be for not redshirting Massey is that from what I have seen, his is a bit quicker than Kincaid. he seems to accelerate to the line faster, which is very, very important.

I think he has the potential to make more yardage, but also will have more negative plays by trying to do too much and not hitting the hole right away. I would rather use Fitz and not waste the rdshirt, but if Jonnie isn't cutting it, then Massey may be the way to go.

[The Q]

If Massey plays, and has some success, some of the success has to go to Foy Munlin, who Bennett said has taken Massey under his win and showed him the right way to do things.

[Keys]

He should haved moved Johnnie freeman back to runningback we he had the chance. In saying that I think it is a great move by Bennett. Do it now so he can get some experience. I doubt if he can do what Johnnie Freeman did with his first carry.(1st carry 61 yard touchdown)

[The Q]

Sure he can. If there's a hole, he'll hit it.

[whatever]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Under the Lights:
<B> Sam,

You're showing your weaknesses for understanding the game. First, with the regard to the "backside seal" - if you bothered to look at the game you would have realized at least 3 things: (1) Sterling Harris did not block anyone on the right side at the poa (point of attack) - with no where for the running back to go this provided ample time for the back side end (over Kieshcnick) to pursue the play down the line and make multiple stops. Additionally, the same defensive end (over Kieschnick) was named Big 12 defensive player of the week primarily for his 2 consecutive QB sacks in the 4th qtr. (2) Each player is graded by their respective coach on their performance in the game. It is my understanding that Eidson & Hargis led the offensive line (grade wise) in the Baylor game. (3) You seem to correlate size with outcome. Evidently the size that matters is the amount of "heart" that a player carries into a game.

Let me suggest to you that the guys that shouldn't be playing are the guys that grade out consistently as losers. To date, I think that yoke fits squarely on the shoulders of Harris and Kieschnick. We need these guys to step up and play to their abilities. You're right to evidence my bias, but it is not due to geography - rather, it is predicated on performance. To quote Phil Bennett from his press conference last Monday, "Grant Eidson was a bright spot in the Tech game."

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

Stay with banking - you have no future in analyzing football.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Let me suggest to you that the reason Edison is playing guard now is that they needed someone to fill in at tackle and they took a good guard in Kieschnick and asked him to fill in at tackle.